12 Years A Slave seeks to defy Gravity in race for Bafta Awards

 
9 January 2014
The Weekender

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Space thriller Gravity and searing drama 12 Years A Slave today stormed the nominations for this year’s EE British Academy Film Awards.

Gravity, which was filmed in Britain, took pole position for the glamorous ceremony at the Royal Opera House next month with 11 nominations.

They include one for Sandra Bullock, who is up for best actress. She is one of a string of stars, including Matt Damon and Oprah Winfrey, to join the list of Bafta nominees for the first time.

And 12 Years A Slave proved a triumphant vindication of its London-born director, Steve McQueen, and stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender – all recognised by Bafta early in their careers – when it was honoured in 10 categories.

That tally is matched only by con artist caper American Hustle, starring another Brit, Christian Bale.

Ejiofor said: “I continue to be immensely proud of the recognition this film is getting around the world. There is, of course, something particularly special about receiving a Bafta nomination from home.”

The nominations were announced in Piccadilly today by Helen McCrory and Luke Evans.

Ejiofor is up for best actor against Bale as well as Leonardo DiCaprio, for The Wolf of Wall Street, and Tom Hanks, for Captain Phillips.

Tessa Ross, controller of Film and Drama at Channel 4 which backed the project, said it was “certainly a proud moment for British film”.

Dame Judi Dench becomes the most nominated actress in Bafta history with her 15th nod, beating the record previously held by Meryl Streep. She was nominated for her touching performance as an Irish woman searching for the son she put up for adoption as a baby in the true story, Philomena.

Dame Judi, who has won six Baftas, said:"That shows how old I am.

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“I’m very proud to be associated with this film and I thank Bafta voters for their nomination.” The film has another three chances for victory, including best adapted screenplay for Jeff Pope and comedian Steve Coogan, who bought the rights to the book and also co-stars.

Coogan said: “We all wanted to make something sincere and uncynical without being naïve. To have it acknowledged by Bafta is very satisfying.”

As well as Bullock, Dame Judi’s rivals will include Emma Thompson, who plays Mary Poppins creator PL Travers in the five-times nominated Saving Mr Banks, Amy Adams, for American Hustle, and Cate Blanchett for Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine, which has four nominations including supporting actress for co-star Sally Hawkins.

Christine Langan, head of BBC Films, which produced both Philomena and Saving Mr Banks, said: “It’s brilliant to have Judi and Emma in these powerful engaging roles. They’re both brilliant careers we’ve all followed for a long time, but seen here in a new light.”

Other big hitters for the ceremony on February 16 include the ship hijacking saga Captain Phillips, which has nine nominations.

BEST FILM

12 YEARS A SLAVE Anthony Katagas, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen

AMERICAN HUSTLE Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison, Jonathan Gordon

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca

GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón, David Heyman

PHILOMENA Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan, Tracey Seaward

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón, David Heyman, Jonás Cuarón

MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM Justin Chadwick, Anant Singh, David M. Thompson, William Nicholson

PHILOMENA Stephen Frears, Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan, Tracey Seaward, Jeff Pope

RUSH Ron Howard, Andrew Eaton, Peter Morgan

SAVING MR. BANKS John Lee Hancock, Alison Owen, Ian Collie, Philip Steuer, Kelly Marcel, Sue Smith

THE SELFISH GIANT: Clio Barnard, Tracy O’Riordan

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

COLIN CARBERRY (Writer), GLENN PATTERSON (Writer) Good Vibrations

KELLY MARCEL (Writer) Saving Mr. Banks

KIERAN EVANS (Director/Writer) Kelly + Victor

PAUL WRIGHT (Director/Writer), POLLY STOKES (Producer) For Those in Peril

SCOTT GRAHAM (Director/Writer) Shell

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

THE ACT OF KILLING Joshua Oppenheimer, Signe Byrge Sørensen

BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR Abdellatif Kechiche, Brahim Chioua, Vincent Maraval

THE GREAT BEAUTY Paolo Sorrentino, Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima

METRO MANILA Sean Ellis, Mathilde Charpentier

WADJDA Haifaa Al-Mansour, Gerhard Meixner, Roman Paul

DOCUMENTARY

THE ACT OF KILLING Joshua Oppenheimer

THE ARMSTRONG LIE Alex Gibney

BLACKFISH Gabriela Cowperthwaite

TIM’S VERMEER Teller, Penn Jillette, Farley Ziegler

WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS Alex Gibney

ANIMATED FILM

DESPICABLE ME 2 Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin

FROZEN Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY Dan Scanlon

DIRECTOR

12 YEARS A SLAVE Steve McQueen

AMERICAN HUSTLE David O. Russell

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Paul Greengrass

GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET Martin Scorsese

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

AMERICAN HUSTLE Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell

BLUE JASMINE Woody Allen

GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

NEBRASKA Bob Nelson

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

12 YEARS A SLAVE John Ridley

BEHIND THE CANDELABRA Richard LaGravenese

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Billy Ray

PHILOMENA Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET Terence Winter

LEADING ACTOR

BRUCE DERN Nebraska

CHIWETEL EJIOFOR 12 Years a Slave

CHRISTIAN BALE American Hustle

LEONARDO DICAPRIO The Wolf of Wall Street

TOM HANKS Captain Phillips

LEADING ACTRESS

AMY ADAMS American Hustle

CATE BLANCHETT Blue Jasmine

EMMA THOMPSON Saving Mr. Banks

JUDI DENCH Philomena

SANDRA BULLOCK Gravity

SUPPORTING ACTOR

BARKHAD ABDI Captain Phillips

BRADLEY COOPER American Hustle

DANIEL BRÜHL Rush

MATT DAMON Behind the Candelabra

MICHAEL FASSBENDER 12 Years a Slave

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

JENNIFER LAWRENCE American Hustle

JULIA ROBERTS August: Osage County

LUPITA NYONG’O 12 Years a Slave

OPRAH WINFREY The Butler

SALLY HAWKINS Blue Jasmine

ORIGINAL MUSIC

12 YEARS A SLAVE Hans Zimmer

THE BOOK THIEF John Williams

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Henry Jackman

GRAVITY Steven Price

SAVING MR. BANKS Thomas Newman

CINEMATOGRAPHY

12 YEARS A SLAVE Sean Bobbitt

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Barry Ackroyd

GRAVITY Emmanuel Lubezki

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Bruno Delbonnel

NEBRASKA Phedon Papamichael

EDITING

12 YEARS A SLAVE Joe Walker

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Christopher Rouse

GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger

RUSH Dan Hanley, Mike Hill

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET Thelma Schoonmaker

PRODUCTION DESIGN

12 YEARS A SLAVE Adam Stockhausen, Alice Baker

AMERICAN HUSTLE Judy Becker, Heather Loeffler

BEHIND THE CANDELABRA Howard Cummings

GRAVITY Andy Nicholson, Rosie Goodwin, Joanne Woodlard

THE GREAT GATSBY Catherine Martin, Beverley Dunn

COSTUME DESIGN

AMERICAN HUSTLE Michael Wilkinson

BEHIND THE CANDELABRA Ellen Mirojnick

THE GREAT GATSBY Catherine Martin

THE INVISIBLE WOMAN Michael O’Connor

SAVING MR. BANKS Daniel Orlandi

MAKE UP & HAIR

AMERICAN HUSTLE Evelyne Noraz, Lori McCoy-Bell

BEHIND THE CANDELABRA Kate Biscoe, Marie Larkin

THE BUTLER Debra Denson, Beverly Jo Pryor, Candace Neal

THE GREAT GATSBY Maurizio Silvi, Kerry Warn

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG Peter Swords King, Richard Taylor, Rick Findlater

SOUND

ALL IS LOST Richard Hymns, Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor, Micah Bloomberg, Gillian Arthur

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith, Chris Munro, Oliver Tarney

GRAVITY Glenn Freemantle, Skip Lievsay, Christopher Benstead, Niv Adiri, Chris Munro

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Peter F. Kurland, Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff

RUSH Danny Hambrook, Martin Steyer, Stefan Korte, Markus Stemler, Frank Kruse

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

GRAVITY Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk, Neil Corbould, Nikki Penny

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, Eric Reynolds

IRON MAN 3 Bryan Grill, Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Dan Sudick

PACIFIC RIM Hal Hickel, John Knoll, Lindy De Quattro, Nigel Sumner

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS Ben Grossmann, Burt Dalton, Patrick Tubach, Roger Guyett

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION

EVERYTHING I CAN SEE FROM HERE Bjorn-Erik Aschim, Friederike Nicolaus, Sam Taylor

I AM TOM MOODY Ainslie Henderson

SLEEPING WITH THE FISHES James Walker, Sarah Woolner, Yousif Al-Khalifa

BRITISH SHORT FILM

ISLAND QUEEN Ben Mallaby, Nat Luurtsema

KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES Megan Rubens, Michael Pearce, Selina Lim

ORBIT EVER AFTER Chee-Lan Chan, Jamie Stone, Len Rowles

ROOM 8 James W. Griffiths, Sophie Venner

SEA VIEW Anna Duffield, Jane Linfoot

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